The present invention relates to a device for supplying food to pets, and more particularly to a an assembly for feeding caged animals.
Animals that are kept in cages, such as pets or laboratory animals, are sustained by food and water provided in containers within the cage. Food is typically provided in feeding cups or containers that are secured to the cage wall to be available to the animals. The support for the food container may comprise wire or hooks or a bracket secured to the wires of a cage wall. Often the container is supported gravitally in a receptacle formed by the wire support or by the bracket. This arrangement facilitates easy removal and replacement of the container.
In a laboratory setting where hundreds or thousands of animals must be fed daily, removing and replacing the food container in the cage of each animal comprises substantial labor, and the ongoing cost of labor involved in sustaining the animals is a considerable cost. Therefore, a small savings in the effort required to handle each food container can result in significant savings. However, the food and water containers must be prevented from spilling their contents inside the cage, since spilled food can spoil and cause disease, and spilled water can also promote disease.
It has been observed that caged small animals, such as rats, hamsters, gerbils, or rabbits, for example, tend to exhibit typical rodent behavior and gnaw and chew on whatever objects are accessible. Larger caged animals will also gnaw, chew, and prod available objects due to lack of exercise and boredom. Many cage feeding devices rely on wire attachments or bails to secure feeding devices to wire cage walls. These arrangements lack the rigidity necessary to prevent animals from shaking, tipping, and spilling the contents of the feeding containers. These activities waste food, which spills on the cage floor and fouls the cage. In controlled experiments where food intake is an important variable, the wasted food can comprise a source of error in the experimental results.